[WSMDiscuss] Fwd: TWO AGRI-BUSINESS FIRMS SUSPENDED IN PALAWAN (PHILIPPINES)

Tue Nov 6 05:36:58 CET 2018

May there be more such victories around the world ... congratulations to 
CALG.

ashish

NEW!’Alternative Futures: India Unshackled’, https://www.amazon.in/dp/B077S479W4
and
www.radicalecologicaldemocracy.org

Ashish Kothari
Kalpavriksh
Apt 5 Shree Datta Krupa
908 Deccan Gymkhana
Pune 411004, India
Tel: 91-20-25654239; 91-20-25675450
http://kalpavriksh.org
www.vikalpsangam.org
www.iccaconsortium.org
www.acknowlej.org
http://ashishkothari51.blogspot.in/
Twitter: @chikikothari

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	TWO AGRI-BUSINESS FIRMS SUSPENDED IN PALAWAN (PHILIPPINES)
Date: 	Mon, 5 Nov 2018 13:36:22 -0800 (PST)
From: 	Coalition against Land Grabbing <calgpalawan at gmail.com>
To: 	COALITION AGAINST LAND GRABBING (CALG) NEWS AND UPDATES 
<coalition-against-land-grabbing-calg-news-and-updates at googlegroups.com>

*
*

*TWO AGRI-BUSINESS FIRMS SUSPENDED IN PALAWAN
*

*(THE PHILIPPINES)*

*Dear friends and colleagues,*

This is another successful story that we would like to share with all of 
you.

In early 2016, two major agribusiness companies (_*the Green Power 
Palawan Agriculture Corporation <http://www.greenpowerpalawan.com/> – 
GPPAC*_, and *_Lionheart <http://www.lionheartagrotech.com/team/> 
Agrotech_*) began the clearing of parcels of land found within the 
ancestral domain of the Pala’wan of Barangay Ransang (Municipality of 
Rizal), without following due Free and Prior Consent (FPIC) procedures. 
The affected areas being converted into coconut plantations are located 
in Sitio Malutok, Sitio Sumurom, and Sitio Balinbalin. It is important 
to point out that such locations are also bordering some valuable ICCAs 
(Territories and Areas Conserved by Indigenous Peoples and Local 
Communities), such as the Signapan valley, being managed by the Tau’t 
Batu (a sub-group of the Pala’wan). Hence, the targeted 10,000 hectares 
of plantations might have posed significant pressure on the neighbouring 
upland ICCAs.

The plan to stop such companies has been a CALG priority, since the very 
beginning.  After three years of community organizing, petitions 
writing, collection of evidences and documentation, we are finally 
harvesting the results of this long struggle. According to NCIP 
(National Commission on Indigenous Peoples) and CALG findings, the MOA 
previously entered between the two companies and the local communities 
was based on an improper application of FPIC guidelines.  Hence, this 
was the reason why the companies’ Certificate of Precondition (CP) was 
suspended.

As a result, the two companies filed a motion of reconsideration as of 
June 1 2017, requesting NCIP to lift the order of suspension and allow 
Lionearth and GPPAC to resolve the issue by paying the required bond to 
be decided by the affected tribes, pursuant to section 23 of the _2012 
FPIC guidelines_ 
<https://ncipro67.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/NCIP-AO-3-Series-of-2012-FPIC.pdf>.

The final response from NCIP Region IV Office - contained in the *_CEB 
Resolution no. 07-124.2018_, Series of 2018* (see attachment) - and 
being transmitted to NCIP Palawan Provincial Office on 1 October, does 
confirm that both companies should, indeed, pay the bond as required by 
the law. But this, by itself, will not allow them to resume their 
operations. In fact, both Lionheart and GPPAC are now been requested to 
submit the Environmental and Socio-Cultural Impact Statement, followed 
by a comprehensive work plan which shall include the project’s profile 
and plan of operations, the identification of the targeted area, etc.  
More importantly, the companies should strictly comply with all 
procedures related to section 19-23 of the 2012 FPIC guidelines.

In a nutshell, all this means that both companies are now suspended 
until they comply with all NCIP requirements. Given the opposition of 
the local indigenous residents, we have good reasons to believe that the 
companies will be unable to provide the documents requested by NCIP, and 
to obtain the communities’ Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC).

While CALG will continue to monitor this case closely, we would like to 
express our sincere appreciation for the collaboration of NCIP key 
officials, which – indeed - has been pivotal to put these two companies 
on hold.

In Solidarity

*The CALG Team*

*
*

*https://www.coalitionagainstlandgrabbing.org*

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